Not a girl anymore
by whitewolf221
Summary: A coming of age story featuring Rogue.  The only problem is that someone doesn't want her to come of age.  A one shot.


Editor's note: I was always curious and a little confused as to why the movies and the comics portray Rogue so differently. In the comics, she is portrayed as someone who can just kick massive butt. In the movies, she needs protected. In this story, I am going to attempt to tell about her transition from what we see in the movies to what we see in the comics. I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Marvel characters or copyrights to them, though I wish I did. Sigh.

"Rogue!"

She wasn't in her room. Wolverine had searched here at least a dozen times in the past hour and each time he left, he had a feeling she might have come back. He had originally wanted to ask her if she wanted to play some pool because even wolverines get bored every once in a while, but his mild interest in her whereabouts had now turned into an obsession.

He had searched the common area, the kitchen, the basement, the study, the basketball court, the grounds around the school, had asked everyone he had come across, but no one had seen her. Even Bobby Drake said the last time they had spoken was last night.

Wolverine sniffed the air. Nope, no scent of her yet. She wasn't close by, so how far away was she? Was she even still on campus? After all, she had a history of running away...

"The same could be said of you, Wolverine."

The voice in his mind was familiar. "Professor?"

Xavier came around the corner, the chair's wheels rolling along the polished floor. His posture was relaxed, his countenance friendly, his smile welcoming, his eyes intelligent. And when he spoke, his voice was soothing. "You're looking for Rogue."

Wolverine took a step forward. "Yup. Have you seen her?"

"Yes. She's in the danger room."

"Why?"

"She's being tested."

"Tested? What for?"

"Because once she's passed, she will be a full fledged member of the X-men."

"What? She's not ready!"

"Oh, she's more ready than you think, Logan."

Wolverine snorted and stormed past the professor. He was vaguely aware of Xavier spinning around and following him, but he didn't care. Xavier got into the elevator behind him and they rode it down in silence. When the doors opened, the pair continued on their silent trek toward the danger room. What were they thinking? Was Jean Grey in on it? Was Cyclops? Storm? She was just a kid, an inexperienced kid at that, and they were just going to send her on a mission with very little training?

You cannot protect her forever, Wolverine.

The voice was an intruder, uninvited, and his claws shot out in reflex.

Please. Don't be angry.

Shink! His claws shot back into his flesh. "Oh, I'm more than angry, bub. I'm downright pissed. I'm going in there and talking some sense into her and ain't no one gonna stop me!"

You know I could if I wanted to, Wolverine.

They reached the danger room and Wolverine pressed his thumb against a scanner to gain entrance. He entered and saw Scott Summers operating the controls and Rogue collapsing as a female voice said "Fourth attempt--failure. You may retry this test at any time."

"Rogue!" Another set of double doors opened, and Wolverine ran out into the danger room and toward Rogue. No one or nothing bothered to attack because the test was over. She was lying on the floor, crumpled into a ball, and the six holographic images that had seen to her defeat vanished just as he reached her. He cradled her beaten body as she leaned into his as if welcoming his strength. She was bruised, limp, and unmoving. It was like holding a broken doll that had seen too many air born flights from a rambunctious child.

She turned her head and looked at Wolverine with confused eyes. Then recognition dawned. "Oh. Hi, Sugar. Not my best moment, is it?"

He laughed. He couldn't help it. "No. They shouldn't have put you in here. You're not ready."

"This was my choice."

"And a wrong one. I'm getting you out of here."

"No. I have to do this." She struggled to sit up.

"Kid, you don't wanna do this. I've seen and done some things, horrible things. And the funny thing is, I like it."

"Logan--"

"People like Cyclops, Storm, Beast, they're able to bury those images in their mind for the greater good. You don't have that kind of a heart, kid. These things will effect you sooner or later. Live in innocence a little while longer, huh? You have a teacher who respects you--"

"No, he doesn't respect me. He coddles me. And I won't be coddled anymore." She stood on wobbly legs and looked down on Wolverine with a fiery determination that surprised him. "And now, thanks to your healing ability, I can continue."

Wolverine looked up at her in shock. "You took my healing ability?"

"Yes. Some of it."

"But I...I...hardly felt it."

"Yes. I've gotten quite good. Now, skedaddle, sugar. I've got a test to pass."

He slowly stood up. "I'm getting you out of here, kid."

"I don't need your help, Logan."

"Marie--"

"I don't want it!"

And it was the look in her eyes that made him turn away. "Fine. Suit yourself." He walked away without looking back and entered the control room. He stood there, his back to the glass that separated them, too afraid to see her fail again, too afraid to see her get hurt.

The professor's silence made Wolverine grit his teeth. "What? No words of wisdom for me?"

Xavier sighed. "No. I will only tell you what I have already told you--you can't protect her forever."

"I can."

"You can't be there forever."

"I will."

"Logan, how can you possibly promise that?"

And for that, Wolverine had no answer.

"Are you sure you don't want to watch?" Xavier said. "She is...quite remarkable."

He looked up at Scott. "I suppose you had something to do with this."

Without taking his eyes from the controls, Cyclops said "No, this was the professor's idea. But for what it's worth, I agree with him."

"Yeah. You would."

Cyclops punched a button on the panel and a female voice droned "Test number five--begin!"

Wolverine turned his head to see Rogue running at an angle toward what appeared to be a statue of a man made entirely of ice. It was then that Wolverine noticed several such statues located around the room.

"What are those statues for, professor?"

"Just watch."

And Wolverine did. His feeling of dread had turned to curiosity because Marie aka Rogue exhibited a confidence that was to be admired. The woman now about to battle her way through the test was not a little girl anymore, not someone that needed protected. The statue was guarded however, for half a dozen holographic warriors materialized in front of the statue. Like a lioness, Rogue charged into the throng, doing a flying kick that sent one of them flying into a wall. It immediately vanished. She knocked a gun out of one guard's hand, turned, punched another guard in the face, one, twice, then did a jumping kick that sent him stumbling back into his companion. They both vanished.

Wolverine looked at Xavier. "How did she learn to do THAT?"

"Rogue's been busy, Wolverine. She's been taking judo and karate lessons in her free time when she's not studying."

"I didn't know this. How come she never told me?"

"She wanted to surprise you, I guess."

"You guess?"

"Yes. Believe it or not, there are some secrets I let people keep for themselves."

Wolverine scowled. "But you are not above prying when it suits your purposes, are you?"

Xavier chuckled. "No, of course not. Like, right now, you want to, how should I say it, kick my ass?"

"Bullshit! I didn't think no such th--"

Xavier held up his hand, chuckling. "Relax, Logan, I was only joking. Now, we're about to miss the best part."

The guards were defeated, leaving a clear path to the statue. When she got there however, the ground trembled and the earth fell away, leaving a deep crevice a mere five feet from the statue. Rogue seemed unfazed as she rushed to the statue and placed her hands on its shoulders. After a few moments, she let go and pointed her hand across the crevice. Ice shot from her fingertips, forming a bridge across the gap.

Wolverine balked. "How...how did she...those are Iceman's powers!"

"Yes. Rogue has the ability to absorb mutant powers, remember? There are two parts to this test. One measures her combat skills, how well she can fight and evade. The other part measures how well she can use her absorbing ability. Each of those statues possesses a computer generated power. If she takes too much, thus severely harming a fellow X-man, if this was a real fight, that is, then an alarm will sound, and she would have failed. In essence, this is the most important part of her test."

The ice bridge was uncomfortably narrow, and Rogue took her time crossing it, arms out to her side to keep her balance. She went slow perhaps because she was nervous or because she needed to keep her footing, and Wolverine didn't like it. Something's coming he thought. This is easy, way too easy.

His instincts were proven right for halfway across the bridge, something rose up out of the crevice, something huge, something with a large wingspan, something prehistoric. It was a pterodactyl. Rogue froze, uncertain of what to do, as it soared up, up, way up into the air, seemed to hang for a moment, and then it dove down at its victim, its bony wings screaming through the air, its beak open into a smile of victory. She threw icicles at it, but they only bounced off the hard hide. She created an ice shield 20 feet up in the air, but it crashed through the barricade. At the last moment, she threw herself onto the bridge as it flew over her, barely missing her prone body. She scrambled across to the other side, not afraid of falling any more, turned to face her foe, but it was gone.

But something else was coming--more warriors. Undeterred, she ran at them, and a few punches and kicks later, they were defeated. A statue of Storm was nearby as well as a fiery wall. She touched the statue and used her wind to blow out the flame. It took a while, but when it finally dwindled, Wolverine saw a huge army of warriors coming her way, thousands strong. They were slow moving and a ways away yet.

"What?" Wolverine said. "You have got to be kidding me, right, professor? She can't handle them!"

"Maybe not by herself, Logan. But she's not Rogue anymore. She's Storm."

"Bah! I'm going in there right now!" He took a step forward and froze. He couldn't move a muscle and he felt Xavier's presence in his mind, tickling his brain.

"You will end this bravado right now, Wolverine. She will succeed or fail on her own terms. Is that clear?"

"I'd listen to him, Logan," Cyclops said. "I've been hit with those brain freezes myself, and it's not fun."

"Shut up, boy scout! Now, let….me…go!!"

But Xavier didn't and all Wolverine could do was watch. And he quickly realized that he would have been in the way. She wove the air like an elemental, weaving the wind through their ranks like a seamstress, and people were blown away. They tried to resist, but the gale force lifted them off their feet and drove them against the canyon wall, shattering bones, if they had any, making them disappear. The strongest of the lot pressed forward, but were hit by lightening strikes that fell from the heavens, incinerating the holographic images and making them vanish. Soon, there was no one left and she collapsed to her knees, exhausted.

"Rogue!" Wolverine cried. But he knew she couldn't hear him through the thick glass, and after a few minutes, she picked herself up and continued on. And Wolverine was amazed. "You go, kid." And with that pronouncement, he felt the professor's hold on him loosen.

A ten foot log, with spikes sticking out and extending the whole length of the room came rolling at Rogue. The nearest statue was Nightcrawler and it was twenty feet away. She ran to it, and Wolverine was amazed that she was able to run at all. The log was gaining on her, and she stumbled, but she kept going until she reached the statue. She touched it, let go, and teleported from existence just as the log reached her. She emerged on the safe side, fifteen feet away. Rogue looked at the control room, and even from this distance, Wolverine could tell she winked. She was proud of herself and rightfully so. He gave her a thumbs up.

She continued on, battling warriors as they materialized until she reached an energy barrier. She teleported to the other side. And that should have been the end of her test. The red button she needed to press which would have signaled her victory was on a pedestal in the middle of the room. She started forward, and a loud screech split the air. The pterodactyl from before dove at her and she barely was able to dodge, doing a side sommersault out of the way as it flew past.

She scrambled to her feet. She knew it wouldn't just simply disappear like before. She had to fight it to win. But how? She was powerless. What good was a teleporting ability against something like that? That's when she saw it--a statue of Jean Grey.

She ran to it, felt its power coursing through her body, and turned just in time to freeze the ancient dinosaur in mid air inches from her. She backed up. It screamed and clawed the air in a futile attempt to get to its prey, but it was no use. She had it in her grips and it was now the prey and she the master over it. She threw the pterodactyl against the energy barrier and it exploded, taking the dinosaur with it.

It was over. At last, it was over. She walked to the button, pressed it, and collapsed onto the ground. Wolverine ran into the danger room just as the female voice said "You have passed. Congratulations, Rogue." He ran across the room and cradled her in his arms. She looked up at him from beneath heavy eyelids. "I…did good, huh….Logan?"

"Yeah. You did real good, kid."

Her eyes closed. She was unconscious. He carried her back to the control room to find Xavier and Cyclops staring at him expectantly.

"So, she passed then?" Wolverine said.

"Yes," Xavier said. "With flying colors."

"Good. Now, she's had a rough time of it in there, so you better let her have at least a month off to recuperate before you send her out in the field to beat up on some baddies."

The professor smiled. "I don't see that as a problem."

Wolverine nodded and he carried her up to her room. He tucked her in and had to resist the urge to keep vigil until she woke up. She wasn't a kid any more. The person he had witnessed in the danger room was a warrior, someone Wolverine would be proud to fight alongside of one day. But not now. Hopefully, not soon.

He walked to the door and looked back. "You had it wrong, kid. It wasn't Xavier that was coddling you. It was me. I couldn't recognize the fighting spirit you had. I'll try to change that way of thinking , kid." He smiled. "But I ain't promising anything."

He closed the door and went in search of Jean Grey. He was hoping she would be in the mood for some eight ball.


End file.
